Ming Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ming Smith
Smith at Brooklyn Museum
Born	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Education	B.S. Howard University, Washington, DC (1973)
Occupation	Photographer, artist

Ming Smith is an American photographer. She made history as the first African-American female photographer whose work was bought by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City.

Her Life Story

Smith was born in Detroit, Michigan. She grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Her father was a pharmacist who loved photography. He inspired her to become a photographer too.

She studied microbiology at Howard University. After graduating in 1973, she moved to New York City. There, she found work as a model. In New York, she met photographer Anthony Barboza. He was an important early influence on her work.

Her Photography Style

Ming Smith uses many creative ways to take photos. She plays with focus in her camera. She also uses darkroom tricks like double exposure. Sometimes, she adds collage or paint to her prints.

Her photos are not just about showing events. They are more about expressing feelings and experiences. People have called her work dreamlike and magical. The New York Times said her work is "personal and expressive." It often uses ideas from surrealism, which is an art style that explores dreams and imagination.

She takes photos from unusual angles. She might shoot out of focus or through fog and shadows. She also likes to put strange things together in her pictures. Sometimes, she even changes or paints over her prints. Many of her early photos were taken quickly. This often gave them two dates. She also used a technique called hand-tinting in some of her work. This is especially true in her "Transcendence" series.

Some of Smith's photos at the Museum of Modern Art show motherhood in Harlem. These pictures look like real-life scenes.

Her Career

Smith has photographed many important Black artists and leaders. These include Alvin Ailey and Nina Simone. In 1973, her work was shown in the first Black Photographers Annual. This book was connected to the Black Arts Movement. Also in 1973, Smith had her first art show. It was at a hairdressing salon called Cinandre. There, she met Grace Jones, a famous singer and model. Smith photographed Jones wearing a black and white tutu. Smith remembers talking with Jones about being Black artists. She said, "We came out of Jim Crow. And so just coming to New York and trying to be a model or anything was new."

In 1975, Smith joined the Kamoinge photography group. This group was based in Harlem. She was the first female member. Roy DeCarava was the director. The Kamoinge Workshop started in 1963. Its goal was to support Black photographers. At that time, white men mostly controlled the photography world. The group still exists today. They hold art shows, give talks, and offer workshops. Smith showed her work with Kamoinge in New York and Guyana.

Smith once dropped off her photos at the Museum of Modern Art. The person at the front desk thought she was a messenger. When she returned, she was taken to the curator's office. The curator, Susan Kismaric, offered to buy Smith's work. But Smith said no because the price was too low. Kismaric asked her to think about it again, and Smith eventually agreed. Soon after, she became the first Black woman photographer to have her work in the Museum of Modern Art's collections.

Besides MOMA, Smith's art has been shown in other places. These include the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Her work is also at the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum & Center for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Smith's photographs are also in the 2004 book The Sweet Breath of Life: A Poetic Narrative of the African-American Family and Life. This book was written by Ntozake Shange.

Art Shows and Exhibitions

Smith has shown her work at the Bellvue Hospital Centre in Morristown, New Jersey. This was part of their Art in the Atrium shows. Her first time was in 1995. This show was called Cultural Images: Sweet Potato Pie. In 2008, she was part of the New York City: In Focus exhibition.

In 2010, her photos were in MOMA's show Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography. This show put Smith's work next to artists like Diane Arbus. This helped more people become interested in Smith's art. In 2017, a big show of Smith's work happened at the Steven Kasher Gallery in New York. It featured 75 old black-and-white prints from her career.

Smith also worked with filmmaker Arthur Jafa in 2017. This was for a show at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. It was called Arthur Jafa: A Series of Utterly Improbable, yet Extraordinary Renditions (Featuring Ming Smith, Frida Orupabo and Missylanyus). That same year, Smith's work was in the Tate Modern group show Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. This show was very popular around the world. It traveled to many museums, including the Brooklyn Museum and the de Young Museum. Since then, Smith's work has been shown by Jenkins Johnson Gallery at art fairs like Frieze New York in 2019.

Other Group Exhibitions

Smith's work has been part of many other group shows. Here are a few:

• 1972 – Kamoinge Group Show; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
• 1976 – Exposure: Work by Ten Photographers; Creative Artists Public Service Program, New York City
• 1980 – Self-Portrait; Studio Museum of Harlem, New York
• 1983 – Contemporary Afro-American Photography; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, OH
• 1984 – 14 Photographers; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
• 1995 – Cultural Images: Sweet Potato Pie; Art in the Atrium, Morristown, NJ
• 1999 – Black New York Photographers of the Twentieth Century: Selections from the Schomburg Center Collections; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
• 2000 – Reflections In Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
• 2000 – MOMA2000; The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 2000 – Ming; Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
• 2001 – Life of the city, An Exhibition in Answer to 2001; Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 2002 – Original Acts: Photographs of African-American Performers from the Paul R. Jones Collection; University of Delaware, Newark, DE
• 2003 – Generations: An Exhibit of African American Art; Art in the Atrium, Morristown, NJ
• 2003 – In the Spirit: Invisible Woman; African American Museum in Philadelphia, PA
• 2004 – A Century of African American Art: The Paul R Jones Collection, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
• 2005 – Contemporary Afro-American Photography; Spelman College Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
• 2006 – Kamoinge Inc: Black Music from Bebop to Hip Hop; Brooklyn Academy of Music
• 2006 – Harlem Photographers Present Images Dating Back to the Civil Rights Movement; Columbia College, Chicago, IL
• 2007 – Contemporary Afro-American Photography; Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, Louisiana
• 2008 – New York City: In Focus; Bellevue Hospital Center Atrium, New York
• 2008 – 16th Annual Exhibition: Creative Destinations 2008 Exhibition of African American Art; Art in the Atrium, Morristown, NJ
• 2009 – Sound:Print:Record: African American; University of Delaware, Newark, DE
• 2010 – Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography; The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 2013 – Ming Smith: Works from the Paul R. Jones Collection; The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
• 2017 – States of America: Photography from the Civil Rights Movement to the Reagan Era; Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK
• 2017 – Art of Rebellion: Black Art of the Civil Rights Movement; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
• 2017 – Arthur Jafa: A Series of Utterly Improbable, Yet Extraordinary Renditions (Featuring Ming Smith, Fride Orupabo, and Missylanyus); Serpentine Galleries, London, UK
• 2017 – We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965–85; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• 2017 – Black Photographers Annual; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
• 2017 – Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power; Tate Modern, London, UK
• 2018 – Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• 2018 – Family Pictures; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
• 2019 – Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power; The Broad, Los Angeles, CA
• 2019 – Arthur Jafa: A Series of Utterly Improbable, Yet Extraordinary Renditions (Featuring Ming Smith, Fride Orupabo, and Missylanyus); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
• 2019 – Down Time: On the Art of Retreat; Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
• 2020 – Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA

Where Her Work Is Kept

Ming Smith's photographs are part of the permanent collections at several museums. This means they own her work and keep it for people to see.

• Brooklyn Museum of Art
• Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Whitney Museum of American Art